HTC hit with major smartphone sales ban in the UK

Things just get worse and worse for HTC. Bloomberg reports that London Judge Richard Arnold has issued a sales ban against the HTC One mini smartphone in the United Kingdom for infringing upon Nokia-owned patents. Even more ominously, Arnold ruled that a similar sales ban could soon take effect for the flagship HTC One smartphone, although he’s holding off on issuing an injunction so that HTC has time to appeal a ruling that will deal it “considerable” harm. Getting its top-selling phones banned in major markets is just about the last thing that HTC needs right now since it’s already dealing with quarterly losses of $100 million and employees who have allegedly been stealing its trade secrets and selling them to a municipal government in China.